Dividing, lanifying, and bleaching bass-fibers.



LEON DE WOLF WANTE, OF ST. NICOLAS-WAAS, BELGIUM.

I DIVIDING, LANIFYING. AND'IBLEACHING BASS-FIBERS.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

Application filed September 7, 1912. Serial No. 719,142.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEON DE WOLF WANTE, a subject of the King ofBelgium,

and a resident of St. Nicolas-WVaas, in Belgium, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Dividing, Lanifying, and BleachingBass-Fibers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a novel process for dividing, lanifying andbleaching simultaneously bassfibers such as jute, hemp, flax, cocoa andother fibers that are obtained by steeping or retting. If the fiber ispure the division and lanification can be done easily with more or lessconcentrated alkali lye, but if the fiber is more or less lignified and.therefore hard, caustic lye acts very slowly and sluggishly and thefiber turns brown. To overcome this deficiency it has been proposed toplace the fiber after this treatment in the alkali bath into a bath oftion of 20 B. It is unnecessary to beat this combination bath and ittakes sometimes only about 10 minutes to produce the desired effect, butof course the time used depends on the nature of the fiber. Sometimesthe material has to be kept in the bath for 4 hours and even more. Whenthe fiber has been treated long enough in the bath, it is pressed outand dried, or if found necessary, washed out first and then pressed anddried.

To give the fiber a greater softness and luster I can combine my processwith a subsequent treatment in hot water to which is added for instance1 per cent. of glycerin, soap, or soapoil, Turkey red oil or the like.

The composition of themixed bath may vary according to the nature of thefiber to be treated for instance ifthe fiber to be treated is lesslignified I can compose the bath of 3 parts by volumeof caustic lye of36 B. and of 7 parts by volume of hypochlorite of sodium or potassium of12 B.

Having fully described my invention What I claim is 1. The process ofproducing bleached and softened bassfibers, such as jute, hemp, flax,cocoa and the like fibers consisting in subjecting the steeped or rettedfibers first to a bath composed of caustic alkali lye-and a solution ofan alkali metal salt of hypochlorous acid, and then softening th fibers.

2. The process of producing bleached and softened bassfibers, such asjute, hemp, flax, cocoa and the like fibers consisting in subjecting thesteeped or rotted fibers first to a bath composed of equal volumes ofcaustic alkali lye of 36 B. and of a solution of an alkali metal salt ofhypochlorous acid of 20 B., and then softening the fibers.

3. The process of producing bleached and softened bassfibers, such asjute, hemp, flax, cocoa and the like fibers consisting lIl subjectingthe steeped or retted fibers to a bath composed of caustic alkali lyeand a solution of an alkali metal hypochlorite, pressing out or dryingthe fibers, and then subjecting them to a hot Water bath containing asmall percentage of a substance adapted to impart softness and luster.

4. The process of producing bleached and softened bassfibers, such asjute, hemp, flax, cocoa and the like fibers consisting in subjecting thesteeped or rotted fibers to a bath composed of caustic alkali lye and asolution of an alkali metal hypochlorite, pressing out or drying thefibers, and then subjecting them to a hot water bath containing about 1%of glycerin.

5. The process of producing bleached and softened bassfibers, such asjute, hemp, flax, cocoa and the like fibers consisting in subjecting thesteeped or retted fibers to a bath composed of potash lye and a solutionof an alkali metal hypochlorite, pressing out or drying the fibers, andthen subjecting them drying the fibers, and then subjecting them 10' toa hot Water bath containing about 1% of to'a hot water bath containingabout 1% i glycerin.

6. The process of producing bleached and 5 softened bassfibers, such asjute, hemp, flax, cocoa and the like fibers consisting in subjecting thesteeped'or retted fibers to a bath composed of potash lye and a solutionof hypochlorite of potassium, pressing out or of glycerin.

Signed at Cologne, Germany this 30th day of Au ust 1912.

EON DE WOLF WANTE.

Witnesses: I

BERTHOLD FLEISCHIER, Loms VANDORY. e

